Tebowmania

Anyone watching the NFL lately knows about the Tim Tebow craze going on right now.  Lots of people who never even watch football know about Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow.  He has become the most polarizing figure in sports right now, and has more loyalty and hatred directed at him than any other athlete I've ever seen.  It shows, however, how much impact that sports teams and emotional connections drive consumption decisions.  Tebow got his start this year after the Broncos started 1-4.  Once John Fox (the Broncos head coach) got to this point, the pressure from the fans became too much to resist.  Football is as much of a business as any other kind of company, and you have to keep your customers happy.  So, the Broncos front office was forced to go with a consumption decision that they ordinarily would not have chosen: Tim Tebow.  He is a extremely polarizing person; he sometimes does not show the passing skills that most analysts deemm "necessary" to be successful in the National Football League.  His unabashed, vocal display of his religious beliefs drive lots of people crazy.  Those who do not agree with public displays of Christianity can't stand him (however, I believe the backlash from people would be significantly less if he professed another religion, or was a staunch athiest. Christianity creates a division that is often times unexplainable in its intensity).  He's left-handed, and has an awkward-looking throwing motion.  He has been told that he could never make it in the NFL.  People want him to just shut up, instead of always thanking "his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  He misses open receivers, and often times runs more than he throws.  According to all the experts, Tebow cannot succeed in professional football. But everyone loves a good underdog story.  Let's look at the hard facts.  Despite less than gaudy statistics in his first 8 games, Tebow is 7-1.  He has won 6 straight, and has led improbable, late-game comebacks nearly every week.  Everyone wonders when "the magic" will finally wear out.  It's a fad that is basically over already.  Soon, no one will even remember Tim Tebow.  Every week, analysts say that there is no way he can keep doing this.  But he does.  The fascinating thing to watch is that for each criticism and flat-out hatred for him that appears, more people flock to his cause.  He has a way to influence everyone, not only his teammates, but also the fans.  Over the last week, Tim Tebow jersey sales have increased to #2 in the league, with only Packers qb Aaron Rodgers still holding on to the top spot.  However, if Tebow time continues as it has been every week, Rodgers will lose his spot very soon.  The Broncos have sold more merchandise this season than any other organization in the National Football League.  Think Tebow has not effect on consumption decisions?  Think again.  And if the Broncos continue to win, and make it to the playoffs, the revenue earned from those games will be HUGE.  Whether the NFL likes Tebow or not based on his play, beliefs, etc. is irrelevant; the NFL loves Tebow because he is the single biggest money-making asset they have seen this year.  People will watch, good or bad, win or loss, because Tebow is exciting. Plus, he wins more than any other starting qb in the league except Aaron Rodgers.  How long this all will last, no one can say for sure.  But I definitely will be watching next week to see what Tebow does next

How Life Pressures Affect Consumption

I am half way through dead week at MSU.  Today was the tough day, I had an operations management exam at 10, 5 page critical review for this class due at 12:45, and business law moot court presentation at 3.  I have 4 finals next week, but the rest of this week isn't too bad.  It is funny to watch the consumption changes for students over this time period.  Sleep, food, and fun time all becomes much more optional.  As long as a person cares at all about their grades, they are going to stay very busy.  Priorities in people's lives has a huge effect on their consumption decisions.  Energy drink and caffeinated beverage sales around campus have to be going through the roof this next week and a half.  Marketers can make some great progress if they realize different market cycles such as this.  Knowing and researching your target market is essential to success.  The smart marketers will anticipate things like finals week and make the necessary to changes to consumption expectations and advertisements.  Just a week and half more!!

Tipping Point

I just handed in the critical book review for Tipping Point.  It was a very interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it.  Despite this, I am somewhat skeptical of some of the claims Gladwell makes in the book.  A lot of times it seemed that he was observing phenomena after it occurred and then making a theory about it.  He used very specific examples that supported his ideas, and the examples were very segmented and did not complement each other.  Some of the claims he made have some real validity, such as his thoughts about the Law of the Few, Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.  Even though some of these were fascinating examples, it is hard to look at his findings as hard scientific facts.  No statistics professor would approve of his casual observations and non-random sampling as viable evidence for any scientific or behavioral theories.  The most difficult part for me to believe was the all-powerful effect of context.  Although situation and environmental contexts definitely have an impact in our decision-making, it is impractical to believe these can overwhelm all of our core beliefs and attitudes.  This can definitely happen in some cases, but there are numerous times where people stand by their values despite situational pressures.  Even if some people do cave under environmental contexts, it is most definitely not the case every time, and does not play a factor as much as Gladwell says it does.  The Goetz shooting example is an excellent point of this.  Despite the fact that having cleaner streets, cracking down on fare-beating and other misdemeanors, and removing graffiti from cars might help to improve the environment and lessen the chance of crime, it is entirely ludicrous to me to assume that if this had been in place, the shooting never would have occurred.  You cannot simply toss out Goetz's mental instability, previous bad experiences, and entirely cruel and racist views and say the most integral part of his choices was the environment.  The man was a psychopath, and no sane, moral person would have reacted towards the 4 youths as he did.  Putting the blame on his environment is a cheap way of removing personal responsibility from Goetz, and instead placing it on the world around him.  He made the choice to give in to rage and act in a unprovoked, extremely violent, and cruel manner, and you will not convince me for a minute of any situational issues, contextual power, or any other mumbo jumbo as the reason for his criminal acts.  In extreme cases, context can have a significant power, but it does not override the free will of humans.  We have a choice to respond in a moral manner or not, and you cannot put the blame on external stimuli or bad environment.  People make choices, and are ultimately responsible for the things they do.  I guess I got on a bit of tangent, but I think it is necessary to point out the differences between fact and theory.  If we as humans are truly doomed to never be able to overcome our environment and surroundings, then we might as well give up the fight to stop cruelty, murder, crime, etc.  We have no way to defeat our natural instincts if we are only animals reacting to external stimuli.  But I believe there is more to people than pure animal instinct, and there are greater things that govern human behavior.   "For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:17-21.  That's my two cents

Ok, that's just creepy

Sometimes brand loyalty can balance on the edge of fanaticism.  This ad shows how occasionally it totally falls off the edge and hurtles down into the abyss

Loyalty

One of my favorite bands is the Christian rock band Thousand Foot Krutch.  Musicians are especially good at creating brand loyalty, and I think this is an excellent example of that.  TFK announced the other day that they would be going their separate ways from their record label, and releasing their next album independently.  However, although they have had a lot of musical success, most of the money goes to the record company so they did not have the necessary funds to produce the entire album.  TFK wanted to make sure their fans were behind them with this new move, and so they asked their fans to pledge $40,000 to go towards album production costs.  The fans are not out the money they give, they get the album early, get band merchandise, and get tickets, etc. depending on the amount they pledged.  They put this on their Facebook page, and although they only have about 500,000 Facebook fans (popular mainstream rap artist Eminem has nearly 50,000,000 fans), TFK raised the $40,000 in 22 hours after announcing their new plans.  This is a great example of the power of brand loyalty, and how much people's consumption decisions are influenced by their emotions and the connection with the brand.  You can read the whole story here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tfk/tfkthe-end-is-where-we-begin

Thanksgiving

It's been a while since I've posted, but Thanksgiving is always an interesting time for observing consumer behavior.  Watching people around the holiday season is always a funny thing, because it often does not make complete sense.  It shows how much traditions and culture has an impact on us.  Under normal circumstances, most people would not relax as much or eat WAY too much like during Thanksgiving, but that is exactly what happens.  I can speak from experience because that is what I just did this past weekend.  I'm surprised I didn't gain ten pounds with all the food I ate.  Which shows the effect that culture has on us and our consumption choices.  Under hardly any other circumstances would we spend so much time worrying about FOOD and preparing it and things like that.  Thanksgiving culture in America is huge.  We had almost this entire week off from school, it is a national holiday, all for a time for getting together with the people you care about around you. Traditions and cultural expectations have a powerful influence on our consumption choices

They just won't leave us alone

I hope everyone can get a laugh from this video. I think it is pretty hilarious, and it's one of my favorites.  It kind of relates to how advertising is in the world we live. We are just trying to do ordinary everyday activities, and are constantly bugged by marketing in every way, shape, and form you can imagine.  Even if it has no relevance to us whatsoever, companies want us to listen to what they have to say.